Bangladesh engages Meta to counter election disinformation ahead of polls

Bangladesh has held high-level discussions with Meta, the parent company of Facebook, to address misinformation and disinformation ahead of the upcoming general elections and a referendum scheduled for February 12.

Chief Adviser’s Special Envoy on International Affairs Lutfey Siddiqi said the meeting took place on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, where he engaged Meta’s senior leadership on election-related information integrity.

Briefing reporters at the Foreign Service Academy on Tuesday, Siddiqi said the talks focused on measures Meta could take both before and during the elections, including real-time responses to disinformation and the possibility of shutting down pages found to be inciting unrest. Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam was also present at the briefing.

Siddiqi said a high-level protocol is already being developed and that Meta has begun coordinating closely with the Bangladesh Election Commission. He added that further detailed discussions are expected in an upcoming meeting with Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser for the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology.

According to Siddiqi, Meta’s senior leadership fully understands the importance of the issue, and the company’s enforcement mechanisms, particularly those related to real-time disinformation control and election-specific tools, are being actively aligned with the Election Commission. He said workshops on these tools have already been held or are nearing completion.

In addition to Meta, Siddiqi also met with representatives of PayPal to explore potential engagement in Bangladesh. He clarified that while PayPal has shown interest and plans to begin internal processes to enter the Bangladeshi market, the move should not be interpreted as an immediate entry, as the company follows a lengthy procedure before launching in any country.

Siddiqi said PayPal officials noted that improvements in governance, stronger leadership at the central bank, and reforms in the banking sector have helped significantly reduce Bangladesh’s risk profile.